The Technical University of British Columbia (1999–2002) has received scant attention in the scholarly literature since it was folded into Simon Fraser University and became SFU’s Surrey branch campus. This article uses neo-liberal and institutional theory to understand the university’s economic mandate and the motivations of the staff and faculty who worked there. TechBC’s legislation and oral history interviews reveal neo-liberal influence in its purpose as an economic driver of the province, academic programs intended to satisfy the high-technology labour market, willingness to collaborate with industry, corporate governance structure, and reduced government funding support. TechBC employees were drawn to working at a startup university, building an interdisciplinary curriculum, and employing new online teaching and learning methods. TechBC’s institutional logic of non-conformity and its aspirations to transform the university experience accounts for its community’s positive memories of the short-lived university.

One-shot information literacy instruction sessions are widely recognized as some of the most important, yet tedious and uninspiring hours of an undergraduate’s life (Schiller, 2008). Many LIS studies have looked at ways to devise new active learning pedagogical methods in an effort to authentically engage students in these sessions (Hanz & Lange, 2013; Klipfel, 2014; Smith, 2004). While these studies are brimming with creative solutions to a plethora of problems, they tend to overlook one of the most basic elements of instructional sessions: classroom configuration. Those studies that do focus on classroom configuration and instructional space often approach the problem as one to be addressed by new technologies or extensive renovation (Beard & Dale, 2010; Gurzynski Weiss, Long, & Solon, 2015; Weaver, 2006). However, this need not be the case. Information literacy instruction sessions can be improved using existing technology in regular classrooms or computer labs. In autumn 2015, a project was initiated to compare the effectiveness of three different information literacy instruction classroom configurations at a Canadian comprehensive university. Building on the work of Julian (2013), the goal of this project was to bring classroom configuration and pedagogy together in an effort to illustrate the impact of incorporating authentic engagement activities to information literacy instruction sessions. This presentation will include a review of the existing literature, a description of the action research methods, and strategies for incorporating authentic engagement activities.

There is a trend in academic libraries to hire consultants for internal crises, change management projects, strategic planning processes, outcomes assessment, evidence-based decision making, information literacy instruction, and more. Although we hear informally about the use of consultants in academic libraries, the practice has gone unexamined. We employ a historical and linguistic analysis of consultants in academic libraries, using a critical framework for this research. A critical perspective provides a structure to discuss issues that librarians may not have been able to previously fit into library practice dialogue. A chronological history of consulting in libraries acts as our literature review. This review, along with a targeted examination of library and information science resources, is used to guide two lines of linguistic analysis. The first provides a critique of the core tenets used to define and characterize library consultants, namely, the claim that consultants are unbiased professionals who bring “expertise” and “fresh” ideas to libraries. The second analysis investigates the rhetorical strategies used in existing texts: polarizing language, straw man reasoning, and figurative and indirect language. The discussion section unpacks these linguistic strategies, reflects on what is missing from the texts, and considers how knowledge and power are exerted through language, making connections to the broader context of neoliberalism.

Canadian archivists played prominent roles in collecting, preserving, and conducting oral history interviews as early as recording technology allowed interviews to be recorded. This conference paper discusses archivists' involvement in the early days of Canadian oral history, the debates they held regarding their engagement, and some implications that their activity has had. Academics currently dominate the field in Canada; however, librarians are poised to have a stronger presence in the future. Librarians have begun to engage as both interviewers and supporters of oral history practice: they are initiating projects as well as providing digital repositories, equipment, and makerspaces.

Preserving oral history interviews is an important aspect of oral history practice. This article examines a sample of theses published by Canadian graduate students and asks two questions: first, how many researchers who conducted oral histories archived their interviews; second, how many researchers consulted oral history interviews as a secondary data source? Thirty-six theses from five universities were examined. 81% of the theses applied oral history as a methodology; 41% examined oral history interviews previously recorded; 22% conducted original interviews in addition to consulting previously recorded interviews. The archival rate of original interviews was 28%. Possible reasons for the low archival rate are discussed. Recent Tri-Agency funding agencies requiring Canadian scholars to adhere to new open access policies could result in higher preservation rates of oral history interviews

This session will share results of the presenter’s Canada-wide survey of university copyright administrators, which explored the following research questions: How are copyright officers, copyright librarians, and other copyright administrators reaching instructors with information about copyright and how it affects their teaching? What are the most common methods of educating instructors, and how are these opportunities advertised? How effective do copyright educators feel their instructional methods are at giving instructors the information they need to find, use, and create teaching materials confidently?

Many respondents feel, like the presenter, that they are not reaching enough faculty with copyright information. While no one has a perfect solution, many are starting to plan education more strategically, reaching out to faculty through their departments and working with deans or provosts to lend copyright messaging more weight.

This report documents the program "Keeping it REAL: Research in Academic Libraries" that was held at UBC on November 18, 2017. This event was the result of a collaboration between SLAIS and librarians at UBC, SFU, and UVic. The purpose of the program was to enhance academic librarians' skills in planning and conducting research and to foster research culture among practitioners. Sessions were held on research processes such as ethics, dissemination, generating ideas, and cultivating research culture, as well as the importance of securing extra funding through grants. Participants also had the opportunity to interact with librarians who have experience in specific theories and methodologies. Feedback on the workshop was positive and indicated that academic librarians are interested in further professional development in research methods, and would like to explore specific methodologies and theoretical frameworks in greater depth. Recommendations included wide distribution of this report and securing support from the sponsoring institutions for future events.

Copyright can be an invisible issue for instructors because infringement or improper use of copyright-protected material will not impede teaching. Copyright law is nuanced and open to interpretation; it is not always clear whether a particular action is compliant or not. This poster will share the results of the presenter’s Canada-wide survey of university copyright administrators, exploring institutions’ provision of copyright education to instructors. The presenter found more questions rather than answers as a result of the survey. Most respondents do no assessment of their copyright instruction, and instead are comfortable relying on experience, questions from faculty, and anecdotal evidence to form an impression of instructors’ familiarity with copyright rules. Is informal appraisal adequate for ensuring that libraries and copyright offices are fulfilling their responsibility to encourage and enable the confident and lawful use of copyright-protected material? What other evidence could be gathered to inform copyright administrators’ efforts? This poster will encourage participants to think about copyright education at their institutions, will share the results of the survey, including approaches being taken by universities across Canada.